Archive for the ‘Celtic health insurance’ Category

Many Americans do not plan to get health insurance if they don’t already have it, even though they could start being penalized next year. According to Money Talks News’ Brandon Ballenger in the article, “Uninsured Not Sure They’ll Comply with Obamacare, Survey Says,” a recent survey of around 300 uninsured adults found the following information. The majority, 64%, said that they haven’t made up their minds about whether or not they will search for their own health insurance before the deadline. Close to 20% do plan to find a health insurance plan from an insurer like Celtic Health Insurance by the deadline. Ten percent of those surveyed said they plan to pay the penalty fee rather than find health insurance. I don’t know if that is such a great idea.

Penalty fees are manageable at first, but increase steadily to an amount where you might as well find some cheaper health insurance. Next year’s penalty is either $95 or 1% of your income, whichever number is larger. The penalty for kids under 18 is half the amount of the adults’ penalty. By 2016, the penalty for an adult is either $695 or 2.5% of your income, with the greater number prevailing. The Kaiser Family Foundation says that a family would owe the larger of $2,085 or the same 2.5% of total income.

When asked, most people cite a lack of finances as the main reason that they don’t carry health insurance. Households that have income between 100% and 400% of the poverty guidelines are eligible for tax credits from the government, but 58% of the uninsured have no idea if they qualify or not. Individuals making $45,960 and families of four making $94,200 qualify for the government tax credits on health insurance. Of those with income under $30,000 per year, 68% don’t know if they are eligible for these credits that would lower their health insurance costs. Believe it or not, 61% of those surveyed, insured and uninsured, think that Obamacare will actually increase the cost of health care overall. That certainly is not the goal.

The Kaiser Family Foundation offers a subsidy calculator to help you figure out if you will qualify for a tax credit and if so, how much it will be. Single people earning $30,000 per year would get a credit of $538, making minimum health insurance coverage cost $1,964 a year. That comes out to about $165 per month for a health insurance premium, but doesn’t include co-pays or other extras. Out of pocket costs could easily increase that monthly output. See if you will qualify for a government credit for health insurance before shopping around for a cheaper health insurance plan to meet the new requirements.